KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian police arrested three opposition politicians and activists on Thursday and charged another with sedition, launching a crackdown on dissent three weeks after an election exposed deep divisions in the country and sparked a series of opposition protest rallies.

The arrests and the charging of a student activist under the country’s Sedition Act signal a hardening stance by the government after the May 5 poll, which it won in unconvincing style that has highlighted electoral system problems.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s racially divisive election result has sparked a battle within the country’s ruling party that is likely to slow Prime Minister Najib Razak’s drive to reform the economy and roll back policies favouring majority ethnic Malays.

Najib’s Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition retained power in Sunday’s election in the multi-ethnic Southeast Asian nation. But the coalition lost the popular vote and turned in its worst-ever electoral performance as it was heavily abandoned by the minority Chinese and rejected by many voters of all races in urban areas.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s racially divisive election result has sparked a battle within the country’s ruling party that is likely to slow Prime Minister Najib Razak’s drive to reform the economy and roll back policies favoring majority ethnic Malays.

Najib’s Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition retained power in Sunday’s election in the multi-ethnic Southeast Asian nation. But the coalition lost the popular vote and turned in its worst-ever electoral performance as it was heavily abandoned by the minority Chinese and rejected by many voters of all races in urban areas.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak may have to step down by the end of the year, ruling party sources said on Monday, after his coalition extended its 56-year rule but recorded its worst-ever election performance.

Najib, 59, had staked his political future on strengthening the ruling coalition’s majority in parliament in Sunday’s general election on the back of a robust economy, reforms to roll back race-based policies and a $2.6 billion deluge of social handouts to poor families.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s governing coalition extended its half-century rule despite its worst-ever performance in a general election, potentially undermining Prime Minister Najib Razak and exposing growing racial polarization in the Southeast Asian nation.

Najib, 59, could come under pressure from conservatives in his ruling party for not delivering a stronger majority in Sunday’s election despite a robust economy and a $2.6 billion deluge of social handouts to poor families.